Owls To Visit Kansas

The Temple men’s basketball team will play defending national champion Kansas next season, according to a source.

The Owls are tentatively scheduled to visit famed Phog Allen Fieldhouse on Dec. 20, marking the second straight year that Coach Fran Dunphy’s squad has played the defending national champ. They played Florida last season.

Following their trip to Lawrence, Kan., the Owls will travel to the West Coast to play Long Beach State on Dec. 22. Temple hosted the 49ers at The Liacouras Center during the 2006-07 campaign. Long Beach State athletic director Vic Cegles was formerly Bill Bradshaw’s righthand man in the Temple athletic department.

In addition to visiting Kansas, the Owls will host at least one Top 10 squad next season, as Tennessee makes a trip to North Broad Street. Temple opened the 2007-08 campaign at Tennessee.

The 2008-09 non-conference schedule will also include Big 5 regulars Villanova and Penn and at least four games versus MAC opponents – most likely Toledo, Central Michigan, Northern Illinois, and Miami-Ohio.

Kansas is losing most of the star players from its national title team, but the Jayhawks have retained Coach Bill Self, who turned down overtures to jump to Oklahoma State, his alma mater.

Temple’s last two games versus Kansas were among the most memorable of Coach John Chaney’s Hall of Fame tenure. During the 1995-96 campaign, the Owls, led by Marc Jackson, beat the top-ranked Jayhawks in overtime at the Meadowlands. Two years earlier, Aaron McKie and Eddie Jones paced the team to a season-opening victory at Phog Allen Fieldhouse.

Following next season’s trip to Kansas, you can expect the Jayhawks to play the Owls in Philadelphia during the 2009-10 campaign. That’s a game that could be played at the Wachovia Center.